Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Short Interest Down 38.1% in February

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,050,000 shares, a drop of 38.1% from the February 13th total of 9,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,053,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319,952 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in Centene by 1,788.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126,582 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Centene by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,265 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Centene stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.27. 4,322,105 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,471,268. The stock has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.